By Monaghan Boy
November 7 2023

In what had been a drizzly Saturday, the heavens cleared for the first half in north London. Leicester Tigers the visitors, but still without their world-cup stars. Saracens, on the other hand, flooded their starting XV with England internationals, and they were quick to reap the rewards. 

Within minutes, the Stonex faithful were treated to scintillating pace and crisp handling - England returnees Farrell and Earl linking to tear down the west-stand’s touch-line. The inside pass couldn’t find Alex Goode however, and the resulting scrum led to an easy penalty exit for the Tigers.

The first points came in the 9th minute - Jamie Shillcock’s left boot adding 3 more to his season’s tally, following a 20 point display at Bath’s Rec in his previous outing. Sarries’ response came quickly however, off the back of a 15th minute lineout. Ben Earl exploited slick midfield handling from Daly and Farrell, crashing towards the Tigers’ five metre line with pace and power. Quickly recycled, a mighty carry and stretch for the line sent Maro Itoje over for the home side’s opening score, in what would be the start of a Man of the Match performance for the returning England star.

A second followed similarly within the next 10 minutes. Lineout, Daly, then shipped onto accelerating forwards. This time, Andy Christie the beneficiary, again stretching and scoring.

The rest of the first half was considerably quieter, the other highlight being a thunderous carry from Elliot Daly to sit down England hopeful Dan Kelly in midfield. A man of the half performance perhaps.

November skies darkened for the second half, but Saracens continued to dominate in the early minutes. 43rd minute and Billy Vunipola crashed under the sticks - held up on field, but a generous TMO awarding the try. 21-3 the score, in what was becoming an evermore forward dominated affair. Again, 10 minutes later, another returnee crashed over. Lineout, maul, and Jamie George emerged from the pile of bodies over the line.

This however, would be the last major shot fired from the men in black. Job done? One might have thought, although ex-Saracen Tom Whiteley quickly capitalised on a lazy Farrell kick, ricocheting for the Leicester man to gather and race for the line.

A raft of changes - a confident Davies, hard working George, both Vunipolas, and a tiring Riccioni all leaving the field shortly. A struggling scrum bounced back tremendously - a red and black bomb squad starting to gain the upper hand - but cohesion in the backs began to lack. A missed tackle from Farrell sent a storming Shillcock over in front of the south stand.

Not quite the utterly dominant performance fans had hoped for. Always comfortable, as the 32-17 final score suggested, but still room for improvement. Few came close to challenging Itoje for star man, save perhaps Nick Isiekwe, armed with a new contract, contributing 3 lineout steals and 2 turnovers in amongst relentless tackling. Andy Christie too continued his early season form, with another strong shift, and Aled Davies backedup and fine performance at Kingsolm with near flawless box kicks and quick ball at the Stonex. Up to 7th. The Tigers meanwhile, falling to 9th, in what has been a tired start for the Leicester outfit. Although one expects a turn-around by the season’s end

SARACENS:-  Goode (Parton) Maitland, Lozowski, Tompkins, Daly, Farrell, Davies (Van Zyl); M Vunipola (Mawi), George (Dan), Riccioni (Clarey), Itoji (Hunter-Hill), Isiekwe, Christie (Tizard), Earl, B Vunipola (Willis)

LEICESTER TIGERS:- Brown, Bassett, Porter (Kata), Kelly, Hassell-Collins, Shillcock (Atkinson), Whiteley (Powell); Cronon (Van Wyk), Clare (Dolly), Hurd (Richardson), Henderson, Carter (Wells), Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell (Rogerson)

SARACENS (32): Tries - Itoje, Christie, B Vunipola, George. Conv: Farrell (3); Pens: Farrell (2)

LEICESTER TIGERS (17): Tries: Whiteley, Shillcock. Conv: Atkinson, Shillcock. Pen: Shillcock

REFEREE: Craig Maxwell-Keys